this is john mccain the maverick. he got the nickname "the maverick" not after "top gun" but because he stood up against his party. now he's saying when you go against the party, you may suffer ultimately years later as in the case of chuck hagel. >> look, a lot of republicans, including mccain myself don't really consider hagel a republican anymore. it has a lot to do with the way he went after the iraq war back when iraq was the dominant issue in washington. remember, mccain was the chief proponent in the senate for the iraq war surge in 2007 and hagel was its biggest critic. >> but manu, how do they not consider him a republican anymore when it was john mccain who was nearly booed off stage when he brought up um grags refor -- immigration reform. and thus he abandoned the notion of a comprehensive reform there. does he identify with chuck hagel? both have seen the bitter pill they've had to swallow from their own party. >> look, relationships matter a lot in the senate. this is a situation where a republican has re